


Rescue

by Lythlyra



Category: Dragon Age
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2012-01-20
Updated: 2012-01-20
Packaged: 2017-10-29 20:37:04
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 460
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/323930
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Lythlyra/pseuds/Lythlyra
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>No one knows how Ser Pounce-a-lot scales his way atop the gates of the Keep, but the moment Anders sees him there is obvious enough. (Nathaniel/Anders slash)</p>
            </blockquote>





	Rescue

**Author's Note:**

> This is just a quick something inspired by a cliche -- a cat stuck in a tree, with a twist.

No one knows how Ser Pounce-a-lot scales his way atop the gates of the Keep, but the moment _Anders_ sees him there is obvious enough. It's difficult to miss that slightly pitched scolding coming from the battlements, the pacing figure that makes vain attempts to retrace the path the cat took.

If only to save the mage from breaking his neck, Nathaniel soon joins him as well, regarding Pounce where he sits -- a picture of calm curiosity, his tail lazily swishing.

He's certainly not as bothered by this adventure as Anders is.

"Has he been up there long?" Nathaniel asks, placing a hand against Anders' shoulder to still him.

"Yes-- No. I-- Does it matter? Look at him. He doesn't know what to do."

The corner of Nathaniel's mouth twitched. A fine case of projection, this.

"So I've noted," was his dry remark, turning his attention back to the mischievous tabby, yawning and stretching in a fine display of settling in for a nap.

With the glower, the pause, that follows, Nathaniel thinks that Anders is finally beginning to understand that Pounce is, if nothing else, perfectly content where he sits. "Oh, sure. Take him on a few outings, and now he's grown up and staking out posts on his own."

The look Nathaniel offers him isn't entirely unamused. "Am I interrupting a proud moment then?"

He recognizes that smile, the way the mage's hand rubs over the back of his neck, just beneath the collar of those robes. "Well, no. He can't stay up there, so I thought I'd ask _nicely_ for him to come down. Next step was going to be serenading and maybe a story or two."

Nathaniel hears it for what it is, the unspoken _I have no idea when he's coming down or how to make him_ , and he's brushing past Anders before he thinks on it for too long.

It's _simple_ from there -- a ladder that he knows to find even after all these years, bracing it against the wall, steady feet and hands as he ascends. Pounce curls against his shoulder, purring the short journey down and soon scooped back into Anders' arms.

There is something to be said about the reunion of a mage and his cat; Nathaniel manages to sit through the fussing, the cooing, long enough to ensure they're fine as they are. It's when he leaves that Anders stops him, a hand loosening from the tabby's fur to catch him around the wrist.

He expects the _thank you_ , and Anders doesn't disappoint, a murmur of words with that smile that is so nearly a smirk, but it's what he mutters as he walks away that gives Nathaniel pause.

"Being able to see up your leathers wasn't too bad, either."


End file.
